NASHVILLE -- The TV crews camped out at his parents' home the morning of the Team Canada Olympic roster announcement apparently didn't spoil the surprise for Shea Weber.

But his parents must have had a clue.

"It sounded like they did. They didn't tell me the night before. Maybe they knew," Weber said yesterday.

"I called them, and there wasn't too much surprise."

Sure enough, the call from Doug Armstrong came the morning of Dec. 30 to let the Nashville Predators defenceman know he was going to the Olympics in Vancouver.

There shouldn't be many eyebrows raised over Weber's inclusion. Armed with a powerful slapshot, a physical presence and a defensive awareness, the 24-year-old from Sicamous, B.C., has earned the right to represent his country in his home province in February.

Improved health and the announcement have given him the chance to prove it.

Battling an undisclosed injury, Weber struggled through the late stages of November and much of December. That just made the pressure of making Team Canada even more of a load with which to deal.

"It's definitely in the back of your mind," Weber said. "You try not to think about it, but it's huge -- everything you see in Canada, it's Vancouver 2010.

"It's nice to have it over with."

Predators head coach Barry Trotz saw an almost immediate improvement from his prize pupil once the announcement was made.

"I know it weighed heavily on Shea's mind," Trotz said. "Shea played for about six weeks quite injured -- probably shouldn't have played -- but there was no way he was not going to play.

"He didn't play probably as well as you're used to seeing him. As the injury kept getting better, he started playing better. Once they made that announcement, he has blown through the ceiling in terms of his play."

Offering a goal, an assist and 10 shots (which tied his own franchise record for shots in a single game) in a 3-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks Saturday, Weber had the kind of game Team Canada executives expect to see at the Vancouver Games.

"You want to play a skill game -- he can do that. If you want to play a real heavy, physical, intimidating game, he can do that," said Trotz.

"He can also beat you from almost anywhere on the ice with that slapshot."

STEVE.MACFARLANE@SUNMEDIA.CA

THREE STARS

AS CHOSEN BY STEVE MACFARLANE

DAVID MOSS Blocked a blast from Shea Weber and lived to score the game's first goal.

SHEA WEBER

Hard to deny how dangerous he is physically and shooting the puck.

DAYMOND LANGKOW

Seemed to be out on the ice whenever the Flames needed to stifle the Preds.